One Simple Thing You Can Do to Save a Child’s Life

It’s World Malaria Day. But instead of launching into a litany of statistics, I’ll just share one hard fact: a child is dying this very minute—every minute—from this disease. And that just shouldn’t be.

Malaria is preventable. Malaria is treatable.

“In the past 10 years, increased investment in malaria prevention and control has saved more than a million lives,” says Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization. “This is a tremendous achievement. But we are still far from achieving universal access to life-saving malaria interventions.”

So you may be asking, “What can I do as just one person?”

Buy an insecticide-treated mosquito net from ChildFund’sGifts of Love & Hope for a child who doesn’t have one. And then ask your friends on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube to buy one, too. You may inspire a movement. At the very least, you’ll raise awareness.

A mosquito net costs $11. And you could be helping a child like 5-year-old Francis from Uganda.

“In 2010, I received a mosquito net from ChildFund. Since then I have never fallen sick.”

Or, taking a worry off the shoulders of a mother like Margaret, who lives in Zambia.

“It was very disheartening for me to watch my two-year-old daughter cry because of headaches and fevers. Sometimes she would completely lose her appetite.”

Just for today, World Malaria Day, I invite you to take a swing at the statistics. Use your social media clout to knock back malaria one child at a time.